How to Play in 2023 (Windows)
Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 8:01 pm
Hey all,
Looks like we have a new forum. Wanted to add a few things for folks who just found this and are using windows 64 bit / want to get started playing right away. I found that I had to find and compile a bunch of things if I wanted to start playing which is a problem and part of the reason the community is thinning:
* EXTRACT ZIP: In the 'ArmorCritical Setup2023' download, extract the zipped Armor Critical folder to wherever you'd like to store AC. I use C:\Program Files\ArmorCritical and manually place shortcuts to the armorcritical.exe in my start menu ( C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs )
* INSTALL JAVA 341: The attached zip also includes Java v. 341(jre-8u341-windows-x64.exe) in the AC folder. Armor Critical/ARC wont run on newer versions of Java so make sure you have this version installed, then open Java (Start Menu) and turn off auto updates.
* GAME LAUNCHERS: If you're like me, and also use a game launcher like Launchbox ( https://www.launchbox-app.com ) to compile your games into one place, then you won't be able to link directly to a shortcut you created (ex: armorcritical.lnk). Reason being, AC has to be launched from the windows explorer file browser in order to connect with JAVA. Otherwise, if you link the launcher to your shortcut (.lnk) and launch the game, it will ask you to install Java (even though you already have).
- To get around this, I included a .bat file (LaunchboxLaunch) in the attached zip's AC folder, that you can link any launcher to. Basically, it's just a simple code to tell windows explorer to launch Armor Critical, which will loop in Java and launch properly. Note: the .bat is looking for AC in your C:\Program Files\ArmorCritical folder. If you have the folder elsewhere, just open the .bat with notepad and edit the location to your AC directory, then save.
- If you already have an AC installation, you can create it yourself by opening notepad, pasting the code below, and saving it as a .bat. Just remember to change the location of armorcritical.exe to whichever directory you have it stored.
* PATCHES/THEMES: The second attached download is a patch/skin for AC that reverts both the look and soundfx back to the TEN / WON / SIERRA days, for those feeling nostalgic. Its one I created during some pandemic downtime and posted in the old forum, but it doesn't look like it was included in the patches repository. It's not an exact replica of the original HUD as the game is formatted a bit diff these days, but it's extremely close. To install it, place the '.armorcritical' folder in your 'C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME' folder. If you already have a folder in there, rename it '.armorcriticaloriginal' in case you want to revert back to it.
* JOIN DISCORD: Last but not least, you'll need to find someone to play with. The community is a bit small these days so join the discord and ask if anyone wants to hop on a match. Games tend to be more active on weekends.
https://discord.gg/HY7gxTn
That's it. Hopefully, that saves you guys some tinkering, time, and frustration with getting the game to be playable. Let me know if you run into any issues!
Looks like we have a new forum. Wanted to add a few things for folks who just found this and are using windows 64 bit / want to get started playing right away. I found that I had to find and compile a bunch of things if I wanted to start playing which is a problem and part of the reason the community is thinning:
* EXTRACT ZIP: In the 'ArmorCritical Setup2023' download, extract the zipped Armor Critical folder to wherever you'd like to store AC. I use C:\Program Files\ArmorCritical and manually place shortcuts to the armorcritical.exe in my start menu ( C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs )
* INSTALL JAVA 341: The attached zip also includes Java v. 341(jre-8u341-windows-x64.exe) in the AC folder. Armor Critical/ARC wont run on newer versions of Java so make sure you have this version installed, then open Java (Start Menu) and turn off auto updates.
* GAME LAUNCHERS: If you're like me, and also use a game launcher like Launchbox ( https://www.launchbox-app.com ) to compile your games into one place, then you won't be able to link directly to a shortcut you created (ex: armorcritical.lnk). Reason being, AC has to be launched from the windows explorer file browser in order to connect with JAVA. Otherwise, if you link the launcher to your shortcut (.lnk) and launch the game, it will ask you to install Java (even though you already have).
- To get around this, I included a .bat file (LaunchboxLaunch) in the attached zip's AC folder, that you can link any launcher to. Basically, it's just a simple code to tell windows explorer to launch Armor Critical, which will loop in Java and launch properly. Note: the .bat is looking for AC in your C:\Program Files\ArmorCritical folder. If you have the folder elsewhere, just open the .bat with notepad and edit the location to your AC directory, then save.
- If you already have an AC installation, you can create it yourself by opening notepad, pasting the code below, and saving it as a .bat. Just remember to change the location of armorcritical.exe to whichever directory you have it stored.
Code: Select all
@echo off
explorer "C:\Program Files\ArmorCritical\armorcritical.exe"* JOIN DISCORD: Last but not least, you'll need to find someone to play with. The community is a bit small these days so join the discord and ask if anyone wants to hop on a match. Games tend to be more active on weekends.
https://discord.gg/HY7gxTn
That's it. Hopefully, that saves you guys some tinkering, time, and frustration with getting the game to be playable. Let me know if you run into any issues!
